


words that define us

by spencerdee



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/F, Modern Thedas, ill add more tags as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-05-18
Packaged: 2018-11-02 06:31:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10938924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spencerdee/pseuds/spencerdee
Summary: "I'm not going to date an elf just so you can win an election!"---Just when Lilium thought the stress in her life wouldn't grow worse, now she has to maintain a fake relationship for her mother's candidacy, uncover a drug cartel in her university, and rebuild burned bridges.





	words that define us

**Author's Note:**

> Modern Thedas AU with my canon Seramancer Inquisitor, and featuring my other Inquisitors as a bunch of extras (and one that's actually plot-relevant).
> 
> I'm making this up as I go.

If there was one thing Lilium could remark on about southern Ferelden, it was that it had a remarkable amount if nightclubs. It wasn't that Lilium could blame its people; southern Ferelden had two large congregations of young adults, and the nights were cold and frigid. People had to stay warm after the sun had set, and dancing in the midst of sweaty, writhing strangers in some dimly lit club seemed like a wonderful idea.

Normally, one wouldn't find Lilium complaining about Dorian dragging her to some club when he'd suddenly decide that the night was still young and they needed some fun, but the place her cousin was dragging her off to seemed a tad too different than their usual stomping grounds. For one, it was some lousy hole-in-the-wall, with patrons who didn't seem to have even bothered dressing up or bathing for the past five months. It was a far cry from the classier establishments near Skyhold University, where the songs weren't trashy pop music with more bass than talent. At least the alcohol was good; it was better than good, actually, and she wondered if some of the more well-dressed folk in the crowded bar endured the horrible company just for it.

Dorian sat next to her on the bar, downing his third drink of the night in one gulp. Normally, he was one to take his time and savour it, but he seemed to be quite in need of the miraculous liquid courage, and Lilium wasn't going to deny him that.

Lilium wasn't an idiot, especially not about the guy she'd grown up with. She knew there was a reason he'd taken them to some relatively unknown place with a name like _Bianca_. There had to be a reason, and Lilium learned enough to just watch and observe, and the answer would eventually come.

Dorian perked in his seat at the sight of _someone_ , and Lilium glanced over to where he was staring. He was a brute of a Qunari, muscles showing quite prominently due to his topless choice of attire. Lilium couldn't help her smirk; he fit Dorian's type to a T, if all the trashy romance novels he swore he never read, or ever kept copies of in the hidden compartment of his closet, was any indication.

"Well, dear cousin of mine," Dorian began, eyes shining with that practised confidence of his, "You must excuse me. I find myself in need of the bathroom."

Lilium waved him off, watching as he veered to the right, in the opposite direction of the toilet. She could only chuckle in her drink. It wasn't that this was Dorian's first time flirting with men, and anything that moved and his reflection, but she'd never seen him quite so flustered.

"First time seeing you around here."

Lilium looked up, then looked down. The dwarf that spoke to her stood on the other side of the bar, impressive chest hair barely hidden by the counter. He had an easy smile that Lilium quickly found herself returning.

The claret liquid in her glass swirled as she answered, "We've never stayed long in this part of Ferelden before."

The dwarf chuckled, and Lilium wondered just how many women constantly fell at his feet. "Right. What would the Senator's son and the Presidential candidate's daughter be doing in this part of Ferelden?"

Despite herself, Lilium froze. Wide eyes glanced around for any sign of recognition from the other patrons, but they were either too focused on their own businesses or the loud music drowned out the dwarf's words. Satisfied, she leaned over the counter and fixed the dwarf with a glare that had as much fire as the inferno she could conjure so easily in her hand. "What do you want?"

"Name's Varric, most handsome dwarf this side of the Frostback," came the dwarf's easy answer. "I own this place, and I just make it my business to know who's drinking my expensive and classy - but rarely ever taken off the shelf - wine."

Lilium took a sip of said wine, and frowned. It was exquisite, aged to perfection, and she found it completely preposterous that these _barbarians_ failed to appreciate it. "I'll buy the entire bottle from you," she said, "And I'd appreciate it if you kept our presence and identities a secret. As you well know, we have much to lose." A glance towards her cousin showed that he now had his tongue down the Qunari's throat, much to the amusement of the people gathered around them. She sighed into her drink. "I suppose that's pretty much impossible now."

An appreciative whistle came from Varric. "Sparkles sure knows how to have fun. Don't worry, Rosa. What happens in Bianca, stays in Bianca." There was an innuendo hidden beneath his statement and the chuckle that came after, but Lilium found herself too distracted to dig in.

"Nicknames?"

Varric only shrugged. "It's my thing. Look, enjoy yourself. Maker knows you both need it after carrying around those names for your whole life." He slid a tall glass filled with neon green liquid towards her. "It's on the house."

She glanced at the drink, and crinkled her nose in distaste. A shake of her head and a sip of her wine made the message clear, but she couldn't deny that Varric had a point. Senator Pavus was a very hateful man that would not only kill, but _disown_ his son if he discovered that Dorian was anything less than his perception of normal. Whoever this Qunari was, he was obviously someone that Dorian liked enough to stalk in some dingy bar and risk exposure for. He deserved to have a little bit of that in his life. He deserved what semblance of true happiness they could get.

A hand curling around the neon green drink and snatching it from in front of her distracted her from her thoughts.

"Sera. Stealing drinks from my customers again," Varric reprimanded, but there was a smile on his face and mirth in his eyes.

"Miss Prissy 'ver here doesn't even want it. No use wasting." The drink was downed in one swig, and Lilium grimaced at the blonde thief. Whoever this Sera was, she was the precise sort of people that made places like this distasteful. Her wide grin and the exciteable aura that radiated off of her _exhausted_ Lilium even by just being in its presence.

She could appreciate the blonde's haphazardly cut hair, however. It had a resounding sense of _asymmetry_ to it, like the red dress she wore - ripped in some places and folded in others, simply so that one side failed to match the other.

"Told you, Buttercup. No stealing here. It's bad for business." This time Varric's tone was serious, but Sera simply rolled her eyes.

Lilium raised a hand. "It's fine, Varric. I prefer this. Oh, speaking of." She set her glass down and dug around her purse for two neatly folded sovereigns and handed them to Varric. "I'd like to pay for our drinks and a bottle of this lovely wine. I think I'd like to take my leave now." By the way she side-eyed Sera, the reason came unsaid.

"Sure, Rosa. I'll get you one in the back." The dwarf's eyes narrowed on Sera. "Behave." With that, he was gone, leaving Lilium alone with a blonde that watched her every movement like a hawk.

"Didn't catch your name," Sera piped up after a second of much appreciated silence.

"I didn't give it to you."

A snort had Lilium looking over. "Piss, what're _you_ doing in a place like _this_?"

Lilium didn't miss a beat. "Ignoring you."

"Sure, Lady Prissypants. Wasted you, had a pretty way about you too." Sera shook her head, and made a move to leave.

Later, when asked, Lilium would plead momentary insanity. She reached out a hand and took the girl's arm before she could mold back into the crowd. "Sorry," she found herself saying. "It's been quite the stressful evening."

"Bet it is," Sera fired back, but at least she was back on the seat next to Lilium and watching her again with those eyes that seemed to swim from blue to brown to something that's a mixture of both. Lilium wondered if it was due to the lighting in the club, but the area around the bar was well lit. Perhaps it was just something that's naturally Sera, always changing and shifting, never quite staying in one place, never still.

It wasn't a description Lilium envied.

Lilium was just starting to enjoy the companiable silence when Sera piped up again. "So, wanna get a leg over?"

If Lilium had been sipping her wine, she'd have done a very expensive spit take. "Pardon me?"

Sera rolled her eyes again, exasperated as though they should be finished with all the talking already. "You know. Shagging. Getting your end way."

Lilium raised a hand. "I am well aware what that means. I'm asking why you're propositioning me."

Sera shrugged, like Lilium was daft for not already knowing the answer to her own question. "Simple. You're pretty and I'm horny." Her eyes lit up as though she had a realization, and before she even opened her mouth, Lilium knew it wasn't the one she was hoping for. "And hey, gets rid of the stress, yeah?"

It was ridiculous, really. Some odd albeit cute blonde stranger asking her to join her in some impulsive and utterly spontaneous one night stand with less than five complete sentence shared between them? It was absolutely preposterous, and there was no way Lilium would be agreeing, not even if she itched to count just how many freckles this girl had or where else they ran. There was simply no way.

* * *

How she'd fallen into bed with Sera eluded Lilium. Perhaps it had been the way Sera smirked, lips chapped and yet still seeming so invitingly soft. Maybe Lilium would blame it on the alcohol, but she knew that excuse was weak at best. She'd always been a heavyweight when it came to drinking, and no matter how orgasmic the flavour of that wine had been, she wasn't near intoxicated enough to have lost control of her words and actions.

Her head fell to her hands, sunlight piercing her eyes through the gaps in wine red strands. The incredibly soft covers sat in a small pool atop her lap, and rose and fell with every deep breath of her still slumbering companion. She glanced at the blonde beside her, memories of the night spent together rising forefront in Lilium's mind and eliciting a red tint to coat her cheeks.

"Maker," her voice barely a whisper, "I had sex with a stranger." She glanced at said stranger, and wondered if she could even call het that after all the exploration both of them had participated in merely hours ago. In the light of the morning sun, she didn't fail to notice the pointed ear peeking from behind messy blonde hair. "An elf. Maker, an _elf_. Mother will kill me."

She saw it now: her mother would skin her alive simply to get the filth of elven touch from her body. Lilium knew that the fact that she'd had sex with a stranger who was also the same gender as her would not have been an issue with her mother so long as her actions never went public, but to know that she'd stooped so low as to have intercourse with an _elf_... Lilium could only fear the consequences of her actions.

She took a steadying breath. She had to do something to rectify her mistakes. Varric had said that what happened in Bianca stayed in Bianca, and she would have to put her faith in him that none who saw her leave with Sera would breath a word of it. She thought back to the walk to Sera's apartment building, and elicited an image of hurried kisses in dark alleyways with startling clarity. They hadn't seen anyone on their way back the night before, or so Lilium could only hope. She glanced at her phone. 4:42. If she hurried, perhaps she could leave the building incognito, with most people still slumbering in bed at this hour.

Steeling herself, Lilium pushed the sheets from her, just barely keeping a straight face at the numerous marks around her body and the delicious soreness of the night prior. Her clothes were difficult to hunt down in the mess of Sera's room, but she managed to get dressed in only five minutes. She'd have to forego her jacket, however, as she hadn't been able to find it anywhere and Sera had began to stir. It was a crying shame; that jacket was her favourite, and probably cost more than everything Sera owned.

She peeked at the time on her phone again. She'd made it out of the building ten minutes before five, and she'd have plenty of time to track down Dorian before the photoshoot she'd forgotten she had to attend.

She had barely taken two steps out of the apartment building when she heard the unmistakeable click of a camera. Her head whipped to the side, to a man holding a camera in his hands, a smirk on his face and the very noticeable press ID around his neck. He gave her a mocking salute before rushing off, leaving Lilium gaping in his wake.

With trembling fingers, she typed out a text to Dorian: "I'm fucked."


End file.
